Kartavya Path is a mirror for those trapped in time of slavery

The criticisms to Kartavya Path actually reflect our inability to dream big and our resistance to change

'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' was marked by one more initiative to dispense with imperialistic relics, accumulated over 1200 years of Mughal and British Raj. On September 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi renamed the 3-kilometer central avenue connecting India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament and secretariat buildings as Kartavya Path, consigning Raj Path, its earlier name, to history.

In 1911, the avenue was named Kingsway to commemorate the visit of emperor George V during Delhi Durbar. The name was borrowed from Kingsway in London, which had been opened by King Edward VII in 1905. After independence, Congress changed Kingsway to Raj Path, balancing the joy over freedom and uncertainty over snapping the umbilical cord with the Empire. So, the symbol of slavery was removed but the scar remained for the next 75 years.

Kartavya Path was named so with a purpose. It was felt that Raj Path represented power and authority, wielded by the Presidents, prime ministers, lawmakers and officials who sought citizens to submit to their decisions for shaping their lives. Kartavya Path, on the other hand, will remind them of their duty to provide selfless service to people without expecting any rewards in the true spirit of what Gita prescribes. It will also instil a sense of ownership among people of what once belonged to colonial rulers and their successors and motivate them to discharge their duty to protect and enrich the nation, society and their cultural. But Modi baiters do not think so. They believe that Kartavya Path places burden of governance on ordinary citizens, taking away responsibility from the state and asking them to follow what state dictates. It is bizarre. It is the people who create the state and it is their duty to choose a state that guarantees their freedom and well being.

The change in name may appear unnecessary but as the visiting Algerian foreign minister explained to me years ago that these changes help subsequent generations get rid of colonial and defeatist mindset and be proud of their civilizational glory, destroyed by occupation forces. He was reacting to protests that were raging then in Delhi over renaming of Connaught Place as Rajiv Chowk. He further claimed that his government had removed all French symbols of their power. His views make enormous sense when you recall hearing a couple of young boys telling a TV interviewer that Raj Path did not sound British to them or TMC MP Mohua Moitra asking why redo 'our' culture and 'our' heritage.

The criticisms to Kartavya Path actually reflect our inability to dream big and our resistance to change. Opposition leaders have cleverly avoided denigrating this move lest NDA exploits voters' sentiments to damn them as anti-national but left it to their media-surrogates to spray venom. An editor, heading pack of wolves, calls Kartvya Path as 'Orwellian', meaning that it is the gift of prime minister's brutal policy to control public opinion by propaganda, denial of truth and false glorification of the past. Another one of his flock feels sorry that people will no longer be able to picnic on the greens, walk, play with kids and have ice-cream at all times of night and day. His socialist heart bleeds for poor ice-cream vendors who will now be restrained from plying their carts. Perhaps, he would have been happier if visitors threw litters around, spoilt lawns and dirtied public places. Making proper provisions and facilities for walking, resting, picnicking, eating ice-cream, litters etc. to keep the area clean, orderly, hygienic and secure do not excite him.

A columnist is even nostalgic about the badly maintained lawns, canals and trees on each side of the Raj Path with people literally owning them and regrets their desecration by laying greenways, fresh water-bodies, granite pathways, light poles, public underpasses, red granite seats, contemporary signage and terraced gardens. The overwhelming response Kartavya Path has received from visitors shows how badly they are trapped in bygone times and divorced from reality.

(Amar Bhushan worked with the Research and Analysis Wing for 24 years after briefly serving in the BSF intelligence, State Special Branch and Intelligence Bureau. He served as the Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat before he retired in 2005.)

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